Sliding-door closing and locking device.



A. WlTHALL. SUDlNG DOOR CLOSING AND LOCKING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED MAR-2|, 1911.

Patented Jan. 7, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

- INVENIOR.

WITNESSES.- i I firm Wit/ba A TTO A, WITHALL. suomc DOOR CLOSING AND LOCKING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 21, I911.

Patented Jan. 7, 191%.

. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 .1,290A6Q A FigZ I IN VEN TOR.

flrlfiar WM ARTHUR WITHALL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM H. MINER, F

CHAZY, YORK.

SLIDING-DOOR CLOSING LOCKING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented Jan. 7, 1919.

Application filed March 21, 1917. Serial No. 156,402,

To aZl 'wh0m it may concern:

[Be it known that I, ARTHUR WITHALL a citlzen of the United States, residing at Chicago, 1n the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Sliding-Door Closing and Looking Devices, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in sliding door closing and locking devices.

Heretofore great diiiiculty has been experienced in properly closin the sliding side doors of railway box .cars us to the fact that, after the cars have been in service for a short time thedoors begin to sag with the result that the upper forward corner of the door engages the door post or guide before the entire forward edge of the door can be brought into snug enga ement with the door post. In'practice, it o n happens that the men in charge of closing and opening the doors are compelled to use crow-bars or other 1 tools to force the doors to closed position or to start the opening thereof, consequently seriously injuring the doors and requiring fi-equent and expensiverepairs.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and relatively inexpensive device which can be applied to doors' of the type above indicated and which will have eflt'ective means for drawin the doors to tightly closed position andw 'ch' will also be of service in starting the opening operation.

In the drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a box-car showmg the side door thereof with my improvements in connection therewith. Fig, 2 is an enlarged slde elevation of the door closing and locking device, the dotted lines therein indicating the position of the parts assumed at the beginning of the final closing movement of the door. 7

Figs. 3', 4 and 5 are enlarged sectional views taken on the lines'3-3, 4-4 and 5-5 respectively of Fig. 2. y

In said drawing, denotes a slidm side door of a railway box-car, the same ing suspended by roller brackets 11-11, the rollers thereof riding upon a track 12. One of the door posts is indicated at 13 in Fig. 3,

the latter having applied thereto a door stop riveted to the door, as indicated 13 by bolts 3535.

or guide 14 in the usual manner and against whichthe forward edge 15 of the door is adapted to bear when the door isv in fully closed positlon. The lower edge of the door 10 is preferably guided by a series of guide brackets 16-16. All of the foregoing parts are or may be of standard construction.

The improved door desk: and locking device, as illustrated, comprlses broadly a plate A, a guiding or housing casting B, a

slidable ulling bar C and an operating handle he housingv or guidi castm B consists of a base plate 17 suitalily bolte or Formed integrallywith the plate 17 is a cap plate 19 which is extended outwardly and then downwardly, as clearly indicated in Flg. 4, to thereby provide a suitable recess to accommodate the pulling bar C and the operating means between the handle D and said bar C, The pullin bar or member G is slidably mounted within the casting B, and is guided on its upper edge by the portion 20 of the casting B and on its lower edge by two shelves or ledges 21 and 22. On its under ed e, the bar C is provided with a rack 23 wit which coiiperates a, gear 24 formed on theinner end of the operating handle -D. The operating handle D comprises two portions 25 and 26 pivotally connected as indicated at 27 the inner portion 25 being journal'ed on a pin or bushing 28 bolted to the casting B, asindicated at 29.

The pulling bar C is provided, at that end adapted to engage in a corresponding slot 33 formed in the plate A, and referably said slot 33 and the flange 32 is heveled or under-cut, as indicated at 34, to thereby prevent accidental disengagement of the hook, (see Fi 3).

As clearly sliown in the drawing, the plate A is secured to the door sto 14 and post In addltion to being provided with the slot 33, said plate A. is provided with a staple 36 over which the member 26 of the operating handle is adapted to fit, said portion 26 being slotted at 37 to provide for thisresult. To look the opcrating handle when in the position shown at 18-18. A

' the use of tools.

vided which has an extension 39 fitting through a corresponding recess provided in the hasp, as clearly indicated in Fig. 5. The locking pin 38 is secured to the plate A by any suitable means, such as the chain 40 to thereby prevent its. loss. To prevent the locking pin 38 from pulling out of position sired to open the door the following sequence of operations takes place. The lead seal is first removed, after which the pin 38 is taken out and the handle 26 of the operating lever disengaged from the plate A. 'Thereupon, the operating handle D is swung downwardly as indicated by the arrow m in Fig. 2, which will positively force the door away from the door stop since the bar 0 has the hook thereof in engagement with the plate A. When the door has been thus partlyopened, the hook 34 may be disenga'ged from the plate A and then the door fully opened by merely ushing the same in the usual manner. W en it is desired to close the door, the latter is moved to a position as near the door stop 14 as can be conveniently done by the operator without Such a position is indicated by the dotted lines 10' in Fig. 2. Thereupon, the pulling bar C is pulled outwardly, thus swinging the operating lever D to the position indicated by dotted lines at D in Fig. 2. The hook 34 is then engaged in the plate A, after which the operator swings the handle D downwardly in a clock-wise direction, thuspositively pulling the door to fully closed position. When this condition has been reached, the portion [26 of the operating lever is swung over the 50 hasp and the pin 38 and seal applied.

By locating the pivotal points 27 and 31 on the operating lever and pulling bar, re-

spectively, inside of the forward edge of the door, it is apparent that all parts can be swung clear of the door when the door is in opened position, and furthermore, that there will be no parts from the plate A projecting into the door opening when the car is being loaded or unloaded, thus eliminatmg danger ofbreaking of parts as will be understood. With the arrangement which I have provided, a strong pulling force can easily be obtained to force the door to closed position, even though the door may be badly saggcd or distorted, and in this way I am enabled to eliminate the undesirable use of crow-bars or other tools which have hitherto been found necessary in many instances.

I have herein shown and described the plate A as secured to the door post and stop and the other parts of the device on the sliding door. It will be understood, however, that the position of the parts may be interchanged without departing from the spirit of the invention and I contemplate all changes that come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In a closing and locking mechanism for a sliding door and door framework, the combination with a pulling member, a housing by which said pulling member is carried, an operating handle, means interposed between the handle and pullin member for actuating the latter, all of said parts being adapted to be secured to the same element of the door structure, of a plate adapted to be secured to another element of the door structure, said able with the pu ling member while the door is being closed, and coiiperating means on said plate and handle for locking the latter when the door is in closed' osition.

2. In a closing and 100 'ng mechanism for a slidable door and door framework, the combination with a plate adapted for attachment to one element of the door structure, a guiding casting adapted to be attachedto another element of the door structure, a shdable pulling member mounted on and carried by said guiding casting, an operating handle,

, and coiiperatmg means on said handle and thereon provided with a rack, of an operating lever handle mounted-on said casting, said handle having a gear codperable with said rack, and a plate adapted to be secured to another member independent of the first named member, said plate and bar havin cotiperable engaging shoulders so arranged that, when said shoulders are engaged and the handle is operated, the members may be moved toward or from each other through the instrumentality of said bar.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination with a bar adapted to be slidably mounted on one member, of a plate adapted to be secured to another member, said late and bar having cofiperable en- 'gagea le shoulders, an operating handle, and

late having means cotiper- 5. In a device of the character described,

the combination with. a sliding door and door stop, of a late secured to the door stop, a pulling bar s idabl mounted on the door and havlng a hook-s aped end adjacent the door stop, said plate bein provided with a recess to accommodate sai hook-shaped end, and means mounted on the door for eifectin a relative movement between said bar an door when the bar is engaged with said plate.- w

6. In a device of the character described, the combination with a door stop and a sliding door, of a 1plate mounted on the door stop, a bar slida 1y mounted on the door, an operating handle codperative with said bar to effect relative movement between the bar and door, said bar having a pivoted section atthe end adjacent said plate, said pivoted section having a shouldercoiiperable with acorresponding shoulder on said late.

' 7. In a device ofthe' character escribed, the combination with a sliding door and door stop, of a housin casting mounted on the door, a bar slida ly mounted in said casting and having a rack, an operating handle pivotally mounted on said casting andhaving a gear cooperable'with said rack, a plate mounted on the-door stop, said late being provided with a recess and sai bar having a hook-shaped end cooper-able with therecessed plate, said handle having a pivoted portion adapted to be swung over said plate and locked thereto.

In witness that I claim the foregoing have-hereunto subscribed my name this 28th day of Feb., 1917.-

ARTHUR WITHALL. 

